Ex chiropodist died after falling out of bed

A retired chiropodist, who suffered from dementia, died after she fell out of bed and banged her head on a radiator, an inquest was told.

Care assistant Miss Joanna Stuttard rushed to Mrs Constance Ainsworth’s aid when she heard her call out in her room at the Castleford Home for the Elderly in Clitheroe on Saturday, December 5th.

Speaking at the inquest at Ribble Valley Borough Council chamber, Miss Stuttard said: “I rushed into her room because her call sounded urgent. She had rolled out of bed and was lying on the floor but she was still breathing and when I bent down to see if she was okay she blinked at me.

“I didn’t move her because I didn’t know if she had spinal injuries.”

Mrs Ainsworth, who had lived at the home since 2013, suffered a large cut to her forehead.

An ambulance that was dropping a patient off at the home rushed 82-year-old Mrs Ainsworth to the Royal Blackburn Hospital where a CT scan confirmed she had banged her head during the fall which had caused a serious bleed on her brain.

Doctors assessed that Mrs Ainsworth was unlikely to benefit from, or to survive, surgery and she was placed on an end-of-life pathway. She died four days later of an intracerebral haemorrhage.

Mrs Ainsworth had a history of falls since she had moved into the home in Queens Road.

Days before her last fall, Mrs Ainsworth had been treated in hospital for a chest infection.

She had returned home but still seemed unwell and her mobility was reduced.

Mr Michael Singleton, senior coroner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, concluded that the cause of death was accidental.